About a year ago, I subscribed to the News & Observer (N&O). I signed up to get the Sunday paper for the coupons. For whatever reason, since the beginning of 2010, they have been delivering the paper on more than just Sundays. I haven't been paying close attention, but it could be every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

In the year that we've been getting the paper, I bet I have read five articles. I really only signed up for the coupons. If they had an option where they would deliver just the coupons on Sunday, I would signup for that. Today, however, I actually opened the paper and started checking it out.

The headline story is titled "Utility customers say their heating bills are outrageous" with a subheading of "High costs in Wilson could be in store for the rest of the state". The number one story on this beautiful Friday is a piece selling fear.

The story with the second billing is titled "N.C. has a shot at school funding". "A shot"?!? I wouldn't call that optimism at its best.

The final three articles on the front page are about Democrats with ethics problems, Arizona closing some rest stops, and adults insulting one another. I can sort of see the two articles. I get it that people like to hear about politicians failing like normal people. The name-calling piece has to do with the school board decision being made soon so I get why people might care. But rest stops being closed in Arizona?

This is a Raleigh, North Carolina news paper. Raleigh is about 3,000 miles from Arizona. How many people in Raleigh do they think are going to be driving through Arizona any time soon?!? Not many. How many people in Raleigh do they think even know someone in Arizona that this is going to affect? I mean, I do, but I don't see this conversation coming up anytime soon. "Hey, Becky, how's Phoenix treating you? ... Yeah, I heard they were shutting down some of your rest stops. Sucks for you guys."

I can't believe this is the front page. It doesn't give me much hope for what's inside. it really doesn't even make me want to take the time to see what's inside.

Despite my better judgement, I did open up the first section. Hidden amidst the stories of the shopping habits of dictators, genocide in Turkey and violent college students, I found one article that shows me that the N&O is not just peddling fear, pessimism, conflict and violence. It seems that they occasionally find a place to spread a little hope, even if it is tucked away on page six.

The article was titled "Joy amid the rubble in Haiti". It was about a couple that had planned to get married and decided to go ahead with it despite the earthquake that ravaged the their hometown of Port-Au-Prince seven weeks ago. The groom is quoted as saying, "We're still here, no matter what the situation is, we are going to be together." They held the wedding outside the cathedral where they attended mass, which had collapsed during the quake. The article reads:

[They] pulled together many of the trappings of a normal wedding. She wore a full white gown with elbow-length white lace gloves. He wore a charcoal-gray suit. There were several hundred guests. Dozens of passers-by watched from atop piles of rubble in the dusty downtown streets. ... They had a small celebration, then went off to spend the night at a relative's home that survived the quake. - Ben Fox (AP)

Afterward, the bride is quoted as saying, "The only celebration we had was that we got to spend the night together." The article ends with this, "The next day, the coupe returned to spend the rest of their honeymoon in the family tent."

I love this. The picture of the wedding taken place outside the collapsed cathedral with by-standers watching from the tops of rubble piles is beautiful to me. Even though this couple has next to nothing, they have lost family and friends and their city is in ruins, they are able to find joy.

Beauty surrounded by chaos. Such is life.

Labels: Haiti, life, raleigh, wedding